Street Photography holds a special magic for us.  It transports us to times and places that we might otherwise never see, or it forces us to pause and see the details that we might otherwise fail to notice.  And when time paints a patina of nostalgia and history on street images, they bring back to life people and emotions that would otherwise be lost to us.

A current exhibition at the Museum of London celebrates the life and opus of London street photographer Bob Collins (1924-2002).   His work spans important moments in British history, the post war years and the emergence of a new Britain.  Collins turned professional in 1956 and he covered the streets of London for nearly fifty years.  He was seeking people and the emotions of the moment.  We have for instance, a photographer covering the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.    Collins’ camera is trained on the other photographer, not on the events themselves.  The key point is the intensity of the moments, that is lived in a thousand lives.  A truly amazing photograph is Collins’ picture of the morning rush hour at Victoria Station.  Technically, this is a beautiful example of blurred motion, here accentuated by the seeming motionless ticket taker and a few of the riders.  I love this picture on a technical level, for sure.  I ponder as to how exactly it was taken.  For once, I want to know the lens and the f-setting and the exposure time.  But then I realize that there is something much more profound going on, something that truly defines street photography.  The world is abuzz with motion.  Time doesn’t stop for us, it rushes on like the riders in this picture.  Despite their hurry, they are mostly gone to us now, having rushed hell-bent into oblivion.  The camera, the street photographer, captures and freezes in time the visages of a few individuals.  The rest is a blur.

For those of you lucky enough to be in London this spring and early summer, “Observing the Crowd: Photographs by Bob Collins” can be seen at the Museum of London, 16 May to 13 July 2014.